Work

Microbial niche partitioning explains N 2 O distributions and cycling in marine oxygen minimum zones

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are marine hotspots for cycling and emission of the powerful greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N 2 O). Steep redox gradients host diverse microbial communities that produce and consume N 2 O, generating a characteristic vertical distribution, with low concentrations in anoxic cores and supersaturated accumulation in surrounding oxyclines. Although the accumulation is commonly attributed to stronger O 2 inhibition of N 2 O consumption than production, this differential inhibition is not consistently observed, suggesting that interactions among nitrogen-cycling metabolisms may provide additional mechanisms. To evaluate the ecological controls on the N 2 O profile, we embed a trait-based ecosystem model into an eddy-resolving simulation of the Eastern Tropical South Pacific OMZ. In this framework, redox energetics, metabolite exchange, competition, and grazing structure microbial growth, setting emergent niches of microbial functional types, particularly aerobic ammonia oxidizers and diverse anaerobic denitrifiers that mediate N 2 O cycling. In the anoxic core, cross-feeding tightly couples denitrifiers that produce and consume N 2 O, maintaining low concentrations. As O 2 increases in the oxycline, competition with aerobic metabolisms and intensified grazing gradually exclude denitrifiers. However, because they draw on more abundant substrates, N 2 O-producing denitrifiers persist to higher O 2 than N 2 O consumers, reflecting the vulnerability of populations dependent on intermediate metabolites. This ecological decoupling drives N 2 O accumulation and captures the characteristic double-peaked vertical structure without imposing physiological O 2 intolerance thresholds. More broadly, by revealing how niche partitioning and producer–consumer coupling shape other features of OMZ biogeochemistry, these results provide a basis for projecting future shifts in marine nitrogen loss and N 2 O emissions.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2612813123

Authors: Daniel McCoy, Xin Sun, Pearse J. Buchanan, Emily J. Zakem

Institutions: Carnegie Institution for Science, University of Pennsylvania, Health Sciences and Nutrition

Language: English

Topic: Marine and coastal ecosystems

Subfield: Oceanography

Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Life below water

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: National Science Foundation, Simons Foundation, European Research Council